The Walt Disney company went on a bit of a release date announcement spree yesterday, letting loose the US schedule for several huge films in 2014 and 2015. The highest profile titles included the Muppets sequel, Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent, Brad Bird’s 1952 and a little film about pirates.
Filling out the company’s schedule (in between, of course the releases from its own animation unit, Pixar and Marvel), the new dates mean we know when to expect new movies from some very exciting filmmakers and franchises.
Bearing in mind that all of these are listed as for the States, there’s still a chance we’ll see them either day and date or very close over here. The Muppets 2, which James Bobin and Nick Stoller are working on, has been set for March 21, 2014.
Angelina Jolie’s Sleeping Beauty spin-off Maleficent will arrive July 2, delayed from its originally planned March release. Brad Bird’s mysterious sci-fi project 1952 (which boasts a script from Damon Lindelof) is now set to hit screens on December 19, 2014. The LA Times has it listed in 3D, though Bird hit Twitter to deny discussions of any format had taken place.
Finally, hot on the heels of the announcement that Jeff Nathanson will re-write the script, the Mouse House has now set **Pirates Of The Caribbean 5 **to wash ashore on July 10, 2015. That’s without a confirmed director in place or even a signed contract from Johnny Depp.
But there is some bad news about the appetite whetting. According to the paper’s site, the most recent batch of 3D conversions, including **Monsters, Inc **and Finding Nemo haven’t earned enough at the box office to warrant more films getting the treatment, so Disney has cancelled plans to have The Little Mermaid follow suit. Looks like Ariel will need magic if she’s to return to our screens.